For this to be the first man she’s ever been engaged to…this is her least romantic songs regarding her lover. She has written more powerful songs from flings and merely admiring from afar (Enchanted).

I remember the day this album came out and said to my non swiftie friends: I imagine every Taylor Swift record as a person. Folklore is more introverted, 1989 is the party friend and so. The Life Of A Showgirl is that friend that starts dating someone and transforms them into their whole personality and everytime they bring their partner in a conversation we're all like YES YOU'RE IN LOVE WE GET IT

The whole "You're not a real fan if you don't love all their music" is so fucking wild to me. Maybe it's because I'm a punker and don't really listen to pop, but like... how can you be a real fan and not criticize an artist? There's songs I dislike from my favorite bands, and honey that's normal. All art ain't gonna resonate with everyone, and sometimes an artist puts out subpar work! Such is the life!

Critical analysis is not an attack! Yes!

Personal opinion but I think people don’t like this album because this is a mask off moment for Taylor. I thinks she’s kinda always been this hollow in most ways but has been able to put on a persona in her career as something much more interesting. This is who she is and I think people are disappointed because they bought into her previous marketing persona rather than who Taylor actually is.

Really curious how she could've misunderstood Ophelia. It's very in your face that Ophelia has no agency because of men and the patriarchy when you read Hamlet.

spot on about the SEO thing. i think it's telling that in the fate of ophelia video, not only is taylor dancing, but unlike the goofy of shake it off, or the uninhibited of delicate, she seems to be doing a dance that seems specifically choreographed to become A Viral Tiktok Dance. and the worst part it seems to be working!

It's really disconcerting going into an album that promises a "behind the curtains" confessional of a showgirl, some sort of introspection or grievances about showbusiness and instead getting songs about her fiancé that hasn't been here that long and petty songs about haters and other artists with no storyline... The music doesn't give "showgirl" either. And focusing so much of the album on her relationship and basically being elogious about her fiancé, especially this early on in the relationship, gives me weird vibes... Your partner shouldn't become your brand.

If 1989 is the Pop Bible, the TLOAS is the Pop Book of Mormon, if that makes sense

What ive learned is that travis is not the muse for her, their relationship is. This album is more about her feelings for their relationship, and those feelings are very insecure. The only song directly about her feelings for travis iirc is Wood, which isnt romantic at all.

As someone who isn't a Taylor fan but who likes the odd song, I have to say when I went through this album I was also thinking it felt hollow. There was nothing of any real substance, no real message, certainly nothing that I would relate to the era of the showgirl, where is the brass and big band energy? Showgirls would sing about political and social matters, they were witty and perhaps that doesn't mix well with Swift's more introspective style of writing but it really felt like she didn't even try.

I agree with a lot of what you've said, but just to add:

1. Hearing the criticism saying that this album is happy and fans who don't like it don't want her to be happy confuses me because, in all honesty, a large part of this album doesn't sound happy to me. It sounds like someone who's pretending to be happy, who is somewhat insecure, but deeply hiding it by highlighting how much they "don't care". Almost all of the songs can be seen through the lens of masked insecurity, and that's quite sad and maybe even concerning.

2. I remember seeing the Bejewled music video when it first came out and I was in awe, simply because it felt like we were actually seeing Taylor at her most relaxed and confident. That video, to me, embodies the Showgirl. In that video she looked comfortable, relaxed, sensual, in harmony with herself, and it was UTTER showgirl, especially including the modern-day queen of Showgirls, Dita Von Teese (who I LOVE). So seeing this album's promotion, it made me feel as though we would see that Taylor: Confident, vibrant, fun, etc. And I think she can pull it off well, so I don't understand why she didn't fully commit to it.

3. Hearing Father Figure made me realise that this album would have been IDEAL in a narrative setting. Have Father Figure as the opening song, and literally tell the story of the showgirl, ups and downs, maybe include interludes, and keep the title track at the end, but rework the lyrics slightly. It could be a vibrant, funny, heartfelt and insightful look at the entertainment industry.

Can you imagine listening until you liked it? Why don’t these people trust their own ability to think critically? Thank you for the most honest and straightforward review.

I'm just starting the video but kudos to you for curating an audience that leaves such long thoughtful comments. I'm having a blast reading through the essays down here

A lot of not knowing what true hardship is resonating through her work.

I would have LOVED for her to try something different with her sound! Life of a showgirl? LOOK AT DEATH OF A BACHELOR!!! That album was jazzy, poppy, lyrically dense, vintage sounding, interesting, and GREAT!

The album sounds like she tries to convince everyone he’s finally “THE ONE” but she doesn’t really knows why. And she also feels a bit pathetic, thanking him for being there for her, for giving her hope that she can be loved. It’s more about what he does for her and than who he is. She wants to prove the world that she won’t always just be a serial dater and that she can be wifey, which is sad

17:58 THANK YOU! People love to give beyonce shit for collaborating with multiple people but that's why her music is so good. They love to act like everybody credited was a writer but she literally credited two people for simply clapping their hands in the intro to flamenco. You cannot gloat about writing your own music if it's terrible.

"if you didn't like it you wouldn't be writing essays about it" lmao okay I guess I love that Boeing killed people!! Sometimes negative emotions can prompt your writing motivation. Some of my best writing was from a place of upset.

Not a fan of all the variants of vinyls and cds either. I can just about accept when there is ONE ‘special’ edition with a bonus song (but I don’t like that it’s usually only available in one format, e.g. for Sabrina’s last 2 albums I believe the deluxe song is on vinyl only), but splitting bonus songs across multiple versions is so icky to me. You couldn’t be more clear with your goal.
I hope we can go back to there being ONE version of the album, maybe with a deluxe version several months later.